Health literacy and attitudes to holistic, complementary and alternative medicine in peritoneal dialysis patients: A descriptive study

26^th European Nephrology Conference

November 23, 2022 | Webinar

Nurcan Uzdil

Erciyes University, Turkey

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nephrol Ther

Abstract :

Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) patients use many Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practices to manage their symptoms. This research was conducted descriptively and relationally to determine the relationship between the attitudes of peritoneal dialysis patients toward holistic CAM and their Health Literacy (HL) levels. The study was conducted with 91 peritoneal dialysis patients who were treated in the adult peritoneal dialysis unit of a university, who met the inclusion criteria and who agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected using the survey form Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (HCAMQ) and Health Literacy Scale (HLS). Ethics committee approval, institutional permission and informed consent of the participants were obtained. It was observed that 72.5% of peritoneal dialysis patients use CAM, and the mean HCAMQ score was 24.03 ± 7.94. Moreover, 76.9% of the patients implementing CAM used herbal methods, and 92.3% preferred CAM to strengthen immunity. In addition, 63.6% patients did not inform healthcare personnel about their CAM use. In the present study, the mean HLS score of peritoneal dialysis patients was 102.88 ± 21.06, and a statistically significant and negative correlation was observed between the mean HCAMQ and HLS scores (r=-0.240; p<0.05). Patients who reported their use of CAM to their healthcare personnel had higher HLS scores than those who did not. Perceived health status had a significant effect on both HCAMQ and HLS. Conclusion: The majority of peritoneal dialysis patients included in the study used CAM, and their attitudes toward CAM use were positive. Most of the patients did not report the use of CAM to healthcare personnel. Keywords: Complementary and alternative medicine, Health literacy, Holistic, Peritoneal dialysis.

Biography :

Nurcan UZDİL has received PhD from the mental health and diseases nursing program in 2020. She is working as a fulltime in the Erciyes University as assistant professor at nursing department in Erciyes University Faculty of Health Science.